Prospector&#39;s pan.



m. 634,l20. Patented not; 3, I899.

.w. H. moons; PROSPECTO-RS PAN.

- (Appumm filed In 27, mos.

(Nu Modal.)

W17'NESSE8 'INVENTOR A TTORN E Y8.

1H: yuan: mm 00.. 1910700110., WASHIIGTDNzDdZ UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

WILLIAM. HENRY MOORE, OF DEADWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRDTO KITTIE Z. KIDD, OF SAME PLACE.

PROSPECTQRS PAN.

SPECIFIUATION formingpart of Letters ates.- No. seare -dated October 3,1899. Application filedd'anuary 27, 1898.: Serial No. 668,156. (No modelI To all whom it may concern: l Beit known that LWILLIAM HENRY Moonn,

of Deadwood, in the countyof Lawrence and:

State of South Dakota, have invented a new and Improved Prospectors Pan,of which the following is tion.

The object of the invention is to provide a prospectors pan which willbe efficient, durable, and economic and by the use of which a prospectorwill be enabled to pan out faster than is possible with the pancommonly. used and with less danger of losing any values...

The invention consists in the novel cona full, clear, and exact descrip:

struction and combination of the several Reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indi cate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

Figure 1 is aperspective view of the improved panr Fig. 2 is a plan viewthereof, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

" The pan A is made of any suitable material-as, for example, steel,iron, copper, brass, or tin-and is very similar in general contour tothe ordinary prospecting-pan, comprising a bottom 10 and a rim 11, whichrises from the bottom and is flared outwardly. The rim and the bottommay be securedrtogether in any suitable or approved manner or the en--tire pan may be stamped from one piece of material. About one half ofthe circumference of the rim 11 is provided with a corru-;

der such construction when Water is passed over that side of the panhaving the surface 12 small rifiles' are formed, but the other halfonportion of the rim is smooth and in that manner resembles an ordinarypan.

After the sand or gravel to be prospected has been placed in the pan andsaid pan filled with Water the pan is agitated for a few mo ments bybeing shaken in the hand. This movement of the pan frees all theparticles 6f gold from the sand and gravel and the gold immediatelyfinds its way to the bottom of the pan. The prospector will thendischarge the gravel and coarse sand by washing them over the portion12of the pan. The particles of gold are kept as near the bottom aspossible by constantly shaking the pan, and as the particles of gold arecarried down the surface 12 of the pan they find their way into theriffles and are there retained. The rifiles admit of the prospectordischarging the coarse material very rapidly Without danger of losingany gold, While With asmooth pan the process is exceedingly slow andmuch of the gold is lost. After the material has been Washed over theriffle-portion of the pan the prospector may turn the pan around andwash off the fine sand over the smooth surface of the pan or he mayfinish over the riffles if he so desires; but it is generally better tofinish over the smooth side of the part, as at that portion the gold ismore clearly visible.

By having the corrugations or riflles extend only partially around thepan a combinationpan is produced-having both a riffied and a smoothor'plain surface, thus rendering it unnecessary to employ two pans. Theentire process of panning is thus readily performed in one pan, and theoperator can pan much faster than with the ordinary pans and without anyrisk of losing the gold. The coarse material is discharged very rapidlyover the riffled portion, and when the material has been reducedsufficient to enable the prospector to see the results the work isfinished on the smooth or plain portion of the pan. As before stated,the gold is more clearly visible at the smooth or plain portion andthere is less liability of losing the gold when the finer material iswashed ofi over the smooth or plain surface of the pan.

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Aprospecting-dish or the like having riffles upon a side Wall, saidriffles extending only a portion of the way around said wall;substantially as described.

2..A prospectors pan provided with indentations or corrugations madecircumferent-ially in the inner face of the rim forming a riffled snrfaoe, the said corrugations extending only partly around the rim, theremaining'portion of the rim at its inner face being smooth from thetop'to the bottom of the rim, for the purpose set forth.

3. A prospectors pan having its rim at one side of the pan provided witha series of indentations formed circumferentially therein andconstituting a riffled surface, the inner I face of the rim at the otherside of the pan having a smooth surface, as and for the purpose setforth.

4. A prospectors pan comprising a bottom and an outwardly-flared rimrising from the bottom, approximately one half the circumference of therim having-a smooth inner face from the bottom to the top thereof, theother half orportion of the rim having a series of horizontally-disposedcorrugations on its inner face, the corrugations extending from thebottom of the pan to the outer edge of the rim, forming a rifiiedsurface, as and for the purpose specified.

WILLIAM HENRY MOORE.

Vitnesses:

FRANK lVICLAUGHLIN, J. P. IIYMER,

